Grease (Paramount Pictures film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical romantic comedy film based on the 1971 musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Written by Bronte Woodard and directed by Randal Kleiser in his theatrical feature film debut, the film depicts the lives of greaser Danny Zuko and Australian transfer student Sandy Olsson who develop an attraction for each other. The film stars John Travolta as Danny, Olivia Newton-John as Sandy, and Stockard Channing as Betty Rizzo, the leader of the Pink Ladies. Released on June 16, 1978, Grease was successful both critically and commercially. Its soundtrack album ended 1978 as the second-best selling album of the year in the United States, behind the soundtrack of the 1977 blockbuster Saturday Night Fever, which also starred Travolta, and earned the film its lone Oscar nomination for "Hopelessly Devoted To You", which lost the Academy Award for Best Original Song to Donna Summer's "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday at the 51st Academy Awards. A sequel, Grease 2, was released in 1982, starring Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer as a newer class of greasers. Few of the original cast members reprised their roles. Most of the adult characters reprised their roles, though the sequel focused on a younger class of greasers and thus most of the main characters from Grease did not appear. It was disowned by Jim Jacobs, who co-created the characters. Patricia Birch, the original movie's choreographer, directed the sequel. It would be the only movie that she would direct. About it In the summer of 1958, greaser Danny Zuko and sweet Australian girl Sandy Olsson meet at the beach and fall in love. When the summer comes to an end, Sandy, whose family is returning to Australia, worries that they might never meet again, but Danny tells her that their love is "only the beginning." At the beginning of the new school year at Rydell High School, Danny reunites with his fellow gang members, the T-Birds, a group of black leather jacket-wearing greasers who all grease their hair, of whom his best friend Kenickie, along with Doody, Sonny, and Putzie are members. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Danny, Sandy arrives at school, with her family's plans having changed, with her new friend Frenchy, a member of the Pink Ladies, a group of pink-wearing girls. Other Pink Ladies Rizzo, Marty, and Jan also arrive, excited to be seniors, as does Patty Simcox, a high-achieving cheerleader. At lunch, Frenchy introduces Sandy to the other Pink Ladies while Danny and the T-Birds make fun of practicing football players, including the handsome Tom Chisum. Each group asks Danny and Sandy, respectively, about their summers and they each independently describe their romance without using the other's name, with Sandy's description far more innocent than Danny's. Headed back to class, Sandy reveals that it was Danny Zuko she met, and Rizzo teases that perhaps she'll meet him again. At a pep rally before a football game, Sandy and Patty perform as cheerleaders; there, Sandy and Tom flirt. Kenickie arrives with a used car he plans on rebuilding so he can race it at Thunder Road, a popular street race spot; as he says this, Leo Balmudo, a rival greaser from the Scorpions, drives by in a menacing manner. Rizzo puts Sandy and Danny together, surprising both of them. At first, they both are thrilled to see each other, but Danny almost instantly after acts boyish, obnoxious and indifferent to her in front of his friends to seem impressive, upsetting Sandy. Frenchy invites Sandy to a sleepover with the Pink Ladies to cheer her up. Rizzo and the other girls pressure Sandy into smoking a cigarette and having a drink of wine at the sleepover. Frenchy reveals that she plans to drop out of Rydell to go to beauty school and in an effort to prove herself, tries to pierce Sandy's ears, making Sandy sick. Rizzo makes fun of her innocent nature ("Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee") and leaves when the T-Birds arrive in Kenickie's car. Rizzo tries to make Danny jealous by flirting with Kenickie, but Danny is unmoved and leaves. Kenickie leaves with Rizzo, stranding Putzie, Sonny, and Doody. Sandy laments over her feelings towards Danny, despite his earlier behavior. Kenickie and Rizzo, while in the midst of sex, are interrupted when Leo, along with his girlfriend Cha-Cha, deliberately crashes his own street racer into Kenickie's and insults Rizzo. At the same time, Kenickie's condom breaks. The next day, the T-Birds look over Kenickie's car, and although they are initially skeptical of its potential, Danny and Kenickie explain the modifications they could add to make it a hot-rodding sex machine. At the popular hangout The Frosty Palace, Danny, after brushing off an attempt by Patty to flirt with him, apologizes to Sandy for his behavior at the pep rally, but she rejects him having started dating Tom instead. Danny approaches Coach Calhoun about playing a sport. After picking fights with the jocks in basketball, wrestling and baseball, Calhoun suggests cross-country running; Danny proves to be a successful runner, which impresses Sandy and angers Tom. Danny takes Sandy to the Frosty Palace for a date; they are soon joined by the rest of the greasers, and Danny and Sandy quickly leave in discomfort. Putzie and Jan, in an awkward exchange, agree to pair off for the dance; Kenickie and Rizzo get into an argument and go their separate ways, while Sonny unsuccessfully tries to court Marty. After everyone else has left, Frenchy, whose hair has turned bright pink, tells Vi, a waitress, that she has dropped out of beauty school and is visited by a guardian angel who advises her to return to Rydell. At the school dance, Leo and Cha-Cha show up as Rizzo's and Kenickie's respective dates. Vince Fontaine, who is hosting a live telecast of the dance, flirts with Marty. All of the students take part in a dance contest that descends into chaos. Danny and Sandy do well, but Sonny pulls Sandy off the dance floor, allowing Cha Cha to step in and win with Danny. During the last dance, Sonny, Putzie, and Doody moon the national TV audience. Danny apologizes to Sandy and tries to make it up to her by taking her to a drive-in movie theater. She's unmoved by his pleas for forgiveness until he asks her to wear his ring, which she gleefully accepts. Danny then tries to make out with her, causing Sandy to angrily throw his ring at him and run off in disgust, leaving Danny distraught. Meanwhile, Rizzo admits she may be pregnant to Marty and asks her to keep it a secret, but the story gets back to Kenickie, and he tells Rizzo he doesn't run away from his mistakes. Rizzo tells Kenickie the baby isn't his, which both relieves and upsets him. The next day, the T-Birds have finished Kenickie's car and he is eager to race it against Leo's at Thunder Road. Sandy tells Rizzo she plans to watch the race and offers to help Rizzo despite the rumors about Rizzo's character that have been spread around school. She thanks Sandy and muses to herself about how her sins are not as bad as they could be. The T-Birds, Pink Ladies, and Scorpions gather for the race, with the winner receiving the loser's car as a prize. Just before the race begins, Kenickie hits his head, and Danny takes the wheel. Despite Leo using bladed hub caps, Danny wins the race. Sandy watches from afar and concludes that she must change her approach to life if she wants to win over Danny, asking Frenchy for help. The gang celebrates graduation at a school carnival where Rizzo tells Kenickie she isn't pregnant and they reunite. Danny arrives wearing a letterman's sweater, to the other T-Birds' dismay. Sandy shocks everyone when she arrives with a new, wilder hairstyle and wearing a revealing black outfit and leather jacket. In song, Danny and Sandy reaffirm their commitment to each other. As the film ends, the greasers promise to stay together after school ends and Danny and Sandy depart in a red hot rod, which takes flight as they wave goodbye to their friends. Song list "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" "Grease" "Alma Mater" "Summer Nights" "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee" "Hopelessly Devoted To You" "Greased Lightnin'" "Beauty School Dropout" "Rock N' Roll Is Here To Stay" "Those Magic Changes" "Tears on My Pillow" "Hound Dog" "Born To Hand Jive" "Blue Moon" "Sandy" "There Are Worse Things I Could Do" "Look At Me, I'm Sandra Dee (Reprise)" "You're The One That I Want" "We Go Together" Cast of characters John Travolta as Danny Zuko, a callow and immature tough guy and bad boy with slicked back hair, who is the not so malevolent gang-leader of the greaser gang the T-Birds and Sandy's boyfriend Olivia Newton-John as Sandy Olsson, Danny's girlfriend and an Australian good girl, who transforms from a square, demure, and virginal Sandra Dee-type with tinselly poodle-skirt-adorned outfits to a greaser Stockard Channing as Betty Rizzo, Kenickie's girlfriend and the cynical leader of the Pink Ladies clique Jeff Conaway as Kenickie Murdoch, Danny's best friend, Rizzo's boyfriend and the owner of Greased Lightnin' Barry Pearl as Doody, a member of the T-Birds; he pairs with Frenchy at the school dance Michael Tucci as Sonny Lantieri, a trouble-making wannabe womanizer and T-Bird who courts Marty with little success over the course of the film Kelly Ward as Putzie, a member of the T-Birds whose relationship with Jan builds over the course of the film Didi Conn as Frenchy, Sandy's closest friend in the Pink Ladies and an aspiring beautician Jamie Donnelly as Jan, a quirky member of the Pink Ladies with a liking for Ipana toothpaste Dinah Manoff as Marty Maraschino, a member of the Pink Ladies whose attractiveness regularly draws the attention of men, including Sonny and Vince Fontaine Eve Arden as Principal McGee, who shows discomfort at the goings-on at Rydell High School Dody Goodman as Secretary Blanche Hodel, who enjoys even the wilder antics at the school Sid Caesar as Coach Vince Calhoun, the tough-talking gym teacher and coach of all the school's perennially losing sports teams Eddie Deezen as Eugene Felsnick, the class nerd Susan Buckner as Patty Simcox, the head cheerleader and a rival for Danny's affections Lorenzo Lamas as Tom Chisum, a popular jock who competes for Sandy's affections Dennis C. Stewart as Leo "Craterface" Balmudo, leader of the Scorpions, a rival greaser gang Annette Charles as Charlene "Cha-Cha" Di Gregorio, Leo's girlfriend Joan Blondell as Vi, a waitress at the Frosty Palace Ellen Travolta as Waitress Frankie Avalon as Teen Angel Edd Byrnes as Vince Fontaine, on-air personality at KZAZ radio and television Sha-Na-Na as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers, a rock and roll band Alice Ghostley as Mrs. Murdock, a rogue auto shop teacher who helps build Greased Lightnin' for the T-Birds Darrell Zwerling as Mr. Lynch Dick Patterson as Mr. Rudie Fannie Flagg as Nurse Wilkins Trivia Three performers from the stage version carried over to the cast: Jamie Donnelly reprised her role as Jan from the Broadway show, the only cast member to do so. As her hair had prematurely begun to grey by this point, she had to dye her hair black by having her roots be colored in daily with a black crayon to resemble her stage character. John Travolta performed as lead Danny Zuko, he had previously appeared as Doody in a touring production of the stage version of Grease, while Jeff Conaway played Kenickie, whose character was given a closer friendship to Danny than seen in the musical, and like Travolta, he had previously appeared in the stage version of Grease; he had played Danny Zuko during the show's run on Broadway. In the original 1971 Broadway musical, Sandy was an all-American girl and her last name was Dumbrowski, suggesting that she was of Polish decent. In the 1978 Hollywood movie version, the producers made the Sandy Olsson character an Australian to compensate for the casting of Olivia Newton-John, who is native to England and lived most of her life in Australia, because she was unable to perform with a convincing American accent. The 2016 Grease Live production had changed her last name to "Young"; making the character more anglicized. In a case of life imitating art, Olivia Newton-John's own musical career would undergo a transformation similar to that of Sandy Olsson; her next album after Grease, the provocatively titled Totally Hot, featured a much more sexual and pop-oriented approach, with Newton-John appearing on the album cover in similar all-leather attire and teased hair. The opening beach scene was shot at Malibu's Leo Carrillo State Beach, making an explicit reference to From Here To Eternity. Even die-hard fans have a difficult time remembering this scene in the film although it is a very simple and clever beginning. Many critics would complain that the actors were too old for the high school characters they were supposed to be playing, although the 30-year-old stars were embracing the drama of their high school-aged roles. Roger Ebert wrote in his column: "One problem I always have, watching the movie, is that all the students look too old. They're supposed to be 16 or 17, I guess, but they look in their late 20s, and don't seem comfortable as teenagers. " Most of the principal cast were well past their high school years when filming began in June of 1977, Stockard Channing was 33, Michael Tucci was 31, Jamie Donnelly was 30, Annette Charles was 29, Olivia Newton-John was 28, Barry Pearl was 27, Jeff Conaway was 26, Didi Conn was 25, John Travolta was 23, Dinah Manoff was 21, Kelly Ward and Eddie Deezen were both 20, and Lorenzo Lamas was 19. Aaron Tveit was 33 when he played Danny in "Grease Live". Rosie O'Donnell was 33 when she played Rizzo on Broadway; much like Stockard Channing was in the film version. When Stockard Channing appeared on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Rosie admitted that she was channeling Stockard when she played the role on Broadway. The actual hand jive is a dance just for the hands, while choreographer Patricia Birch added the feet and jumps, to create a great dance piece. This shows that the fun the cast had while making the film is very infectious here. The controversial ending, when Sandy conforms to the greasers and changes her look to fit in with the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies, is actually a spoof of movies when the rebel gives up his bad ways at the end and decides to turn over a new leaf. Instead of having the bad boy repent and become a good guy at the end of Grease, the good girl goes bad. The Grease theme song's original opening credits had a 1950s song set to an animation filled with '50s references, but it was scrapped. Instead, Barry Gibb was brought in to make the new theme and penned the energetic title song "Grease", a 1970s style disco/funk song with lyrics that describe a lost generation in revolt and the rebellion, directly for the film, while it was performed off-screen by Frankie Valli over the visual of animated opening credits that are an introduction of most things Rydell High School. Olivia Newton-John behaved like the good girl persona of her character, Sandra Dee, who first appears as a sweet little girl in a poodle skirt, by wearing a charming and innocent pink prom dress to the premiere of the film. At the after party, Newton-John changed into her “Sandy 2” look by wearing a hot pink spandex outfit that is similar to that tight black outfit of a leather jacket and skin-tight pants that she wears in the final scene of the movie.Category:Movies